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Lurker
The lurker is a zerg unit that may attack only when burrowed. Overview By the time of the Brood War, the zerg had evolved the lurker strain from the hydralisk. The lurker was first observed under the leadership of Kerrigan (although technically, it was their handiwork that was the first indication).Bill Slavicsek, David Eckelberry, Shawn F. Carnes. Alternity: StarCraft Edition. Wizards of the Coast, March 1, 2000. ISBN 0-7869-1618-4. Lurkers serve as defense warriors for hive clusters and outlying zerg colonies.Underwood, Peter, Chris Metzen and Bill Roper. StarCraft: Brood War (Manual). Irvine, Calif.: Blizzard Entertainment, 1998. Lurkers emit waves of super-dense spines against their enemies, having a full width of damage of ten meters. However, lurkers must actually burrow underground to release these subterranean attacks. Any warriors on the surface who are caught by these spines are instantly impaled. These spines themselves are capable of tearing into flesh, steel, and even reinforced armor plating. The spines can even be directed downward into open spaces, provided the lurker is underground.Zapotek, Ren (w), Noel Rodriguez (p, i), Mel Joy San Juan (i). "Twilight Archon." In StarCraft: Frontline: Volume 3 (paperback binding), pp. 132-177. Tokyopop, July 14, 2009. ISBN 978-1427-80832-5. The only weakness of the lurker is that it is virtually defenseless while above ground. Game Unit StarCraft |airattack= |cooldown=37 |armor=1 |speed= |range=6 |sight=8 |detect= |parent= |addons= |evolvesto= |produce= |allows= |research= |ability= |structure= |hero= |campaign= |npc= |cancel= |nocat= |concatbott= }} Lurkers must burrow in order to attack, rendering them invisible from enemy attackers. Lurkers are particularly effective as a defense against enemy raids on workers. As long as the defenders can keep enemy detectors from penetrating, raiders deployed by air transport are at risk of being annihilated by pre-deployed Lurkers that they cannot see. Terrans are not as handicapped against lurkers because of the ComSat station. The lurker's attack does linear splash damage to allied and enemy ground units, but not the player's other ground units, in its path. The lurker has no means of defending itself when not burrowed, and is vulnerable during the process of burrowing; this takes more time than for other units and enemy units can still attack them at that stage, possibly killing the lurker before it even has a chance to effectively become invisible to the enemy and attack. Abilities Upgrades StarCraft: Ghost ]] The lurker was to appear in StarCraft: Ghost.Lurker. Blizzplanet. Accessed on 2008-06-07 Its form underwent an extensive redesign from its Brood War incarnation during development.2010-2011, Starcraft 2: Zerg Lurker. Deviantart, accessed on 2011-02-11 StarCraft II |gun1name=Subterranean Spines |gun1strength=15 (+15 vs armored) |gun1attacks= |gun1ground=x |gun1air= |gun1cool=3.08 |gun1range=6 (9 with Seismic Spines)Zerg Lurker. StarCraft II Armory. Accessed 2009-12-06. |gun1upgrd=+2 |speed= |sight= |detect= |parent= |addons= |evolvesto= |produce= |allows= |research= |ability= |structure= |hero= |campaign= |npc= |cancel=X |nocat= |concatbott= }} In the current version of StarCraft II, lurkers only appear in the Galaxy Map Editor. Abilities Upgrades Strategies Lurkers countered roaches for cost, but roaches had the mobility advantage.Karune. 2008-08-18. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 43. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-08-18. A theoretical lurker inclusion in the game would be useful for zerg players, as per their ability to attack while burrowed, and to push the zerg tech tree into tier 2.2011-08-01, StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Q&A With Dustin Browder. Gamespot, accessed on 2011-08-13 Development The lurker reappeared in StarCraft II,Burnes, Andrew. 2008-03-10. StarCraft 2 - Zerg Attack: New Screenshots, Unit Images & Unit Info! IGN.com Accessed 2008-03-10. created from a hydralisk morph, but as of February 2010 and the release of the StarCraft II beta, is no longer in the game.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II beta. (Activision Blizzard) (in English). February 18, 2010 Not long before this, internal testing had found that the lurker had been underutilized by players.2010-02-09, StarCraft's Photos - Mini-Updates. Blizzard Entertainment, accessed on 2010-02-15 The lurker appeared at a higher tier than in the original game.StarCraft Legacy staff. 2009-04-04. Zerg Unit Information. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2009-06-23. Some units get a hold fire command,Karune. 2007-10-15. Karune: Did we get a "Hold Fire" command? Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. however, as of March 2009 the lurker did not have this ability.Karune. 2009-03-19. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 50. ''Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-03-19. Lurker attacks were able to devastate groups of infantry. In addition, they could act as siege units, out-ranging conventional stationary defenses.Karune. 2009-02-18. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 49 (page 4). Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-02-18. The lurker was removed because its role was taken up by the roach (which can move while burrowed) and banelings (which deal splash damage),The developers say that Lurkers were taken out because their goal is to keep the unit count of the game as small as possible so that players know their choices and understand their enemy choices as well. They feel that the Roach uses the Lurker's burrow ability well, while Ultralisks and Banelings have the splash damage covered. Many units took over Lurkers’ roles over the period of development, so they didn't think they were as valuable anymore. But we all do miss them! Well this is our point of view. I think that Lurkers should not really be Tier2 in the current build, because they don't really fit in there and they wouldn't really be a good counter to Roaches, given the fact that ZvZ is a very dynamic matchup and you would probably still prefer Ultralisks or Broodlords at T3. What do you think about it? Kapeselus. 2010-03-17. Blizzard please bring back Zerg Lurkers. StarCraft II Gameplay Discussion Forum. Accessed 2010-03-17. Its role was also supplanted by the infestor. In terms of design, the lurker's form in StarCraft II was originally based on its appearance in StarCraft: Ghost. However, when the development team started their initial renditions, the lurker reverted back to a design more in sync with its form in StarCraft: Brood War. The design was established and a portrait model was generated, then the lurker was modified once again to match the portrait artwork more accurately. The final rendition made the lurker regain more similarities to the hydralisk while adopting the newer design elements established over the years. During development, some of its appearance was altered due to similarities from the roach.2010, Starcraft 2: Zerg Roach. Deviantart, accessed on 2011-07-20 Heart of the Swarm The lurker is useable in the campaign as an evolution split from the hydralisk. It deals more damage and has more life than usual. The lurker strain was found in a feral hive cluster on the planet of Cavir, one of Daggoth's old birthing colonies. Its counterpart is the impaler.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Heart of the Swarm, Hydralisk Evolution (in English). 2013-03-12. In the campaign, the lurker is better defensively compared to the impaler, having less range but being more effective against zealots and marines thanks to its splash attacks. Trivia *The lurker is often nicknamed "lurk" in online culture. References Category: StarCraft: Ghost Zerg units Category:Zerg breeds